The present invention relates generally to a pellet burning heating assembly. More particularly, the invention relates to a portable and economic heating element for a heating assembly which is wood pellet-fired and constructed and arranged to be mounted to barbeque grills and stoves.
It can be appreciated that grills and stoves have been in use for many years. Typically, most prior art grills use charcoal briquettes, gas burners and the like as heat sources. These heat sources have certain advantages, disadvantages and limitations. Charcoal, for example, imparts desirable food flavors, however, it is expensive, messy, hard to handle, requires time to properly light and to reach proper temperature and after cooking is completed, the charcoal is usually left to burn itself out, thereby resulting in wasted fuel. Gas burners can also be expensive to operate and the storage tanks are heavy and bulky. Gas fuel has certain conveniences over charcoal briquettes, however, it does not provide any desirable flavor to the cooked food, as does a wood-based fire, which provides a smoke flavor into the foods being cooked.
Pelletized wood fuel has gained popularity for both home heating and for cooking purposes. However, prior art grills and stoves tend to be quite large and have components that become part of the grill or stove design. Most prior art assemblies, for example, incorporate the pellet area/hopper, blower, burner and auger assembly into the grill or stove structure. The parts of the grill or stove essentially dictate the stove or grill structure and design resulting in relatively massive sizes. Prior art pellet grills and stoves can also be very expensive and are not readily portable, due to their size and weight.
The present invention provides a new and novel way of burning pelletized fuel, reduces the size of the burner itself, and uses a gravity fed system to eliminate the need for an auger assembly and does not require a blower which can be bulky in size. The present invention is a relatively small, one-piece design which is efficient and effective.
Pelletized wood fuel is relatively inexpensive and easy to obtain and is sold with different flavor enhancing qualities such as hickory, mesquite, cherry, etc. Some grill companies suggest using flavored wood pellets as the main heat source of its grills, which is acceptable for slow cooking or smoking, however, when cooking at higher temperatures there is little or no smoke, the fuel is burned efficiently and will impart little or no smoke flavor. There is moisture being released from the burning pellets, which will impact the food, however it does not carry much of the smoke flavoring.
By adding a handful of flavoring pellets or wood chips to a smoke device, and using a common hardwood pellet as the main heat source further makes the present invention more efficient and economical. The common hardwood pellets will impart the moisture, the moisture will carry the smoke, the smoke and moisture will impart flavor to the food being cooked. For the purposes of the present invention, common hardwood pellets are recommended along with a smoke device and flavoring wood pellets or chips, in order to achieve the desired flavor at a much lower cost. For certain foods, a smoke flavor may not be desirable, and therefore not requiring the use of flavoring pellets.